The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday its controversial lawsuit over Gov. Bobby Jindal's school voucher initiative could be resolved quickly now that Louisiana has agreed to provide key documents about a program that might have reversed desegregation gains in 13 school systems. Jindal called the feds' announcement a "PR stunt" and repeated his demand that they drop the suit altogether.

The two sides are set to meet in court Nov. 22 to discuss what the Justice Department calls two still-unresolved questions, in a case that has become a national flashpoint for debate over both private school vouchers and Jindal's political ambitions. Justice's announcement came in an open letter from Peter Kadzik, principal deputy assistant attorney general, to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, who last week asked the department to reconsider its petition.

Officially called the Louisiana Scholarship Program, the state's voucher law lets low-income students in public schools with low scores attend participating private schools, mostly at taxpayer expense. In the current school year, about 8,000 students were given vouchers capped at about $8,500.

The Justice Department petition, filed in U.S. Eastern District Court in New Orleans, seeks to bar the state from automatically assigning vouchers next year to students in 34 school systems that are under long-standing school desegregation orders. That's about half the school systems in the state. The affected systems include Plaquemines, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany parishes.

The desegregation orders try to ensure representative racial balance in public schools and typically include controls on student transfers. The Justice Department's petition required the state to provide information on voucher enrollment in the current year.

While pleased with the latest conversations, Justice's latest letter accuses the state of dragging its heels until now. State Education Department spokesman Barry Landry rebutted that, saying the Justice Department wanted information about the 2013-14 school year "months before the school year started. They shouldn't be surprised the data weren't available." Fall enrollment counts for Louisiana public schools are not final until after Oct. 1.

From the feds' perspective, the only remaining questions -- which will be debated next month in front of Judge Ivan Lemelle -- are whether the state's desegregation order applies to the voucher program and, if so, whether the parties must amend existing desegregation orders to ensure that future voucher assignments are reviewed to ensure compliance.

If the judge decides in the affirmative, the Justice Department will consider its suit resolved, according to a Monday court filing.

However, the plaintiffs' declaration of progress didn't satisfy the defendants. Jindal on Tuesday said federal officials were simply trying to mask their lawsuit's real intention.

"While attempting to rebrand its legal challenge as merely an attempt to seek information about implementation of the scholarship program, the administration's real motive still stands -- forcing parents to go to federal court to seek approval for where they want to send their children to school," the governor said in a statement.

Landry reiterated the sentiment: "The bottom line is that they are still seeking for Louisiana families to have to seek their approval before choosing a school for their children."

Eric Lewis, Louisiana director of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, said the group had no intention of withdrawing the request it filed Tuesday morning, with several families, to intervene in the case. The alliance favors the vouchers program.

Lewis questioned whether the Justice Department had a political agenda, pointing to a passage in Kadzik's letter about the controversy over whether voucher schools offer better educational results. That goes beyond the department's stated concern about desegregation, he said.

Overall, "They don't have the long-term vision of the benefits of this program," Lewis said.

Jindal and other voucher proponents have said the Justice Department's goal is to end vouchers altogether.

The Justice Department said Tuesday its goal is not to shut down vouchers but to ensure that the state reports its data to the federal government in a timely fashion and "that Louisiana implements its program in full compliance with federal law, including the desegregation order in this case."

Kadzik added, "We are neither opposing Louisiana's school voucher program nor seeking to revoke vouchers from any students. When properly run, state and local voucher programs need not conflict with legal requirements to desegregate schools."

The state Education Department has agreed to provide the latest data by Nov. 7.